Just before noon It gets a little messy at the Woodland Park Zoo, But, no worries, Tasha the sloth bear is always ready to do some housekeeping. Her cleaning technique comes naturally. Sloth bears are known as nature's vacuum cleaners.
"In the wild these bears are really well adapted to eating termites or ants and they use those big claws to break open the termite mounds and they have a feeding technique that scientifically we call blow and suck," said zookeeper, Susan Parke with a smile.
At the zoo's new Banyan Wilds Exhibit visitors can watch Tasha and other sloth bears enjoy a snack. Every morning at 11:30, except on Thursday, keeper Peter McLane arrives with bowls of cheerios, raisins and meal worms, the next best thing to termites.
"These bears can suck the termites out of a 20-foot deep termite mound, so we get a tube that works just like that," said Parke.
"This tube is 20 feet long," said McLane while feeding Tasha. "So we spread out treats and she goes to work."
McLane puts the tube through a hole in the exhibit to Tasha. She puts her lips around the hose and then sucks up the treats on the other side of the tube. She makes a big sucking sounds whenever she does it.
Watching the bears eat brings awareness and a new appreciation for snack time at the zoo.
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